Ar Tonelico III

[Illumina]

Good news!

Ar Tonelico PS3 Confirmed for U.S.
Use music and beautiful girls to triumph over evil.

At NISA's press event in San Francisco last night, the next entry in the Ar Tonelico series was officially announced for a U.S. and European launch. Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel will continue the franchise's tradition of combining Japanese dating simulation gameplay with RPG-style battles. Unlike its predecessors, however, Ar Tonelico Qoga will feature an action-oriented battle system as opposed to a turn-based affair.

According to NISA's announcement, Ar Tonelico Qoga is the final installment in the series and the story will be set in Sol Cluster, a kingdom under the tyrannical rule of the Clustania organization. This organization aims to enslave all of humanity, but the two key Reyvateils (humanoid sorceresses) join forces with the game's hero and fight against Clustania's machinations.

The most intriguing piece of news to emerge from NISA's event is the new implementation of "song magic" -- a staple of the franchise. Originally, the Reyvateils used the power of song to channel their powers. In Ar Tonelico Qoga, this theme is used more literally in conjunction with the gameplay, as players will be able to hit buttons in time with the rhythm of the music to power up the attack.

Ar Tonelico Qoga will once again enable players to dive into the subconscious minds of the Reyvateils in order to power up their abilities, as well as develop emotional relationships with the girls. The game will also include multiple endings that change depending on the player's choices.

Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel is being developed exclusively for the PlayStation 3 and is scheduled to launch during spring of 2011.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/110/1106693p1.html

[Ayn]

I find some irony that a lot of my favorite Ar Tonelico songs share names with FFXI dragons (Nidhoggr -- Ayatane's theme and Vrtra).

And sadly, I picked Luca, because I couldn't be bothered at the time to max out the 3rd Reyvateil's thing (which took more effort).

The thing about picking Luca over Cloche is that regardless of picking Cloche or not, you still get that broken ass Replakia thing or whatever.

Anyway, I thought I'd hate this series at first, but it really grew on me. While the localization of 2 was butchered in some ways, I *really* liked the battle system. Plus I liked Croix's rather dry humor at times. He was refreshing after dealing with Lyner in the first game.

[Tobi]

Sorry for necro, but Qoga date announced for EU

Yesterday, much to the joy of NIS America fans, Tecmo Koei
announced a release date for Hyperdimension Neptunia in Europe —
March 4th, 2011 — while, simultaneously, NISA told us North
America could expect it a few weeks earlier.

Today, Tecmo Koei announced a date for another PlayStation 3
game that fans should appreciate: Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel.
This one’s due out on March 25th, 2011 in Europe.

Like with Neptunia, online retailers have already cut price on these.
Amazon.co.uk have priced it at £38.93 and Play.com have it for
£39.99 (instead of £49.99) in the UK.

If Qoga is like Neptunia, then it should release few weeks earlier than EU date as well. Hopefully a confirmation on US date comes in soon.

[Tobi]

While Hyperdimension Neptunia and Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel
have specific dates in Europe, all we have in North America are
vague "spring" timelines for those titles. Nevertheless, Gamefly
claims to know the dates of both games.

According to the rental service, Hyperdimension Neptunia is slated
for February 17. That date is inline with the "few weeks prior"
comment from NIS America. Ar Tonelico Qoga is pegged for March
17, which is also a little earlier than the European release.

In addition to these titles, NIS America also has Prinny 2: Dawn of
Operation Panties, Dood! and Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle
coming out for PSP next year.

Since that's Gamefly date(which is a thursday), it should be in stores on 15/16th since that's a Tuesday/Wed I guess.

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/11/18...-says-gamefly/

[Tobi]

Official english site up
http://nisamerica.com/games/atq/

[Darus Grey]

I just want to re-iterate that the 3rd title is pretty awful, or at least, if you really liked 1/2, you will probably be disappointed that it's so little like them.

[Dranio]

In case anyone wants to know, It's now up for pre-order on the NIS America store.

[SephYuyX]

Calendar for 10 extra dollars, weee.

[Tobi]

[Charismatic]

Hmm, the premium edition doesn't come with anything like the Yokkora DVD, eh? NEEDS MOAR FLIP-GRAVIE?

[SephYuyX]

[Tobi]

LL is streaming it
http://en.justin.tv/themasterll#/w/969647104/2

Hoping to have my copy this weekend hopefully

[chiyio]

mine is showing delivered to my house

Somehow I accidentally ordered two of them though

[SephYuyX]

Got mine in

Glad I wasnt one of the people who didnt get their OST.

[sephir]

Thoughts?

[Rokku]

Was kind of wondering the same thing myself. Haven't heard much from any gaming sites as of yet aside from vague comments.

[SephYuyX]

Havent had a chance to play it lul. Maybe tonight.
I have all the OSTs for 3 (NA and JP), and so far I like the first 2 games music wise so far, but ive only listened to them once.

As far as the game, the only thing ive heard is that it's "better than the first two".

[Noobta]

Besides the graphics, I still like AT2 better than 3. Combat and dungeons are terrible in this game, but the OST/Story/graphics etc are good.

[Charismatic]

Worse combat than the game that was only marginally good for the innuendo? Oh no, that's a bad sign.

[Qalbert]